So, yeah, uhm, I bought an iPad 2 today. I still don't think anyone really needs a tablet, but that doesn't mean I didn't want one. I wanted to wait until the HP TouchPad was announced, but now that it has, it seems it won't be coming to The Netherlands any time soon. As such, the iPad 2 it was. A few quick fist impressions.

FTA:This is frightening, especially given the fact that it's from Apple, and given the high price tag.

Apple has to buy from the same companies that supply to Windows consumers (many so cheap that they'd crap their pants than use a pay toilet.) If it wasn't for the cheaper-is-better mentality throughout the PC world, you'd have chip fabs and display manufacturers creating more reliable products for Apple to use.

I've been an engineer for over 30 years. When I got into the field, a decent personal computer cost about as much as an economy car. Now a bunch of know-nothing consumers have driven down quality with their refusal to buy any computer that costs more than a mediocre bicycle.

Those parts of Apple products that are designed by Apple and exclusive to Apple are usually of the highest quality. Just look at a Mac Pro case. Pop the latch on the back and open side cover. The manufacturing precision and tolerances are enough to get anyone with mechanical engineering/manufacturing expertise to get weak in the knees.

Be careful what you wish for. One might say that all desktops, even the older ones are cheap pieces of sh*t compared to supercomputing clusters, and that we really should go back to the times where people rented mainframe time for a hefty price, accessed them from the distance, and had to hand their precious data to an unknown corporation...